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Afghanistan

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Asia AF · AFG landlocked

Not studied yet.

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Official name
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan جمهوری اسلامی افغانستان · Dari
2 more names د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت · PashtoOwganystan Yslam Respublikasy · Turkmen
Capital
Kabul
Region
Southern Asia
Population (2018 est.)
≈ 37 million
Area
652,230 km²
Currency
Afghan afghani (AFN)
Neighbours
Iran, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, China
Internet / phone
.af · +93

Where it is

Notable facts

  • Afghanistan sits on the ancient Silk Road, and the Khyber Pass has been a strategic gateway between Central and South Asia for millennia.
  • The Bamiyan Valley held two colossal 6th-century Buddha statues, destroyed in 2001; the empty niches remain a World Heritage site.
  • The country is famous for lapis lazuli, mined in Badakhshan for over 6,000 years and traded as far as ancient Egypt.
  • The Wakhan Corridor, a narrow finger of land in the northeast, was created as a buffer between the Russian and British empires.

World Heritage 2 sites

National dish

Kabuli palawقابلی پلو Steamed rice cooked in meat stock, heaped over lamb and topped with fried carrot slivers and raisins.